Last month women gathered via signals across the country to share, to listen, and to try to make sense of our new political reality. Today is the first day of the new presidency and the future for our country looks grim. Each day, lines are crossed that used to be off limits in a democracy such as ours. One woman asked, “How shall we engage?” She shared that this election sparked a fear in her about survival and her values.... Read more
On the US holiday of Thanksgiving last month, I had a conversation with my 86-year-old father. I noticed he was reading a book about the second world war, the time of his childhood and early adolescence. Previous on rare occasions, my father had shared very brief memories of that time. He is the first generation of our family born in the United States, and he remembered, during the war, stories of the suffering of relatives far away in Leningrad. I... Read more
Participating in a circle recently, my heart was touched to hear so many women asking how to connect, find hope, and move forward in light of recent world events. In my own world and work, I have taught myself to continually focus and refocus my mind away from the negative and towards the positive; a mental strength practice many scientific studies have shown to be physically beneficial in addition to the spiritual benefits we reap. For me, writing, meditation, and... Read more
The symptoms of manic depression and other mental illnesses need to be seen in the context of an age when we are seeing many more modern day mystics than ever before, trying to function beyond the support of cloister and community. Read more
The world has tilted on its axis and opened deep cracks in our collective human heart. We are listening deeply for the wisdom arising from those cracks. We are aware that women’s spiritual leadership is more important … and mysterious … than ever. The work we all do on behalf of the Sacred Feminine is more crucial than ever. WSF exists to offer sacred space for authentic conversations. We believe we can co-create a new narrative – together in circle... Read more
When Swami Vivekananda spoke at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893, he ignited the West’s interest in Hinduism and created a heart-opening moment for the global north to move back into its connection to the world. Welcoming everyone with the words, “Sisters and Brothers of America,” he invoked a sensibility of relationality and warmed the room. What most didn’t know when he received a standing ovation was that his own personal heart had been consumed by the Dark Goddess,... Read more
Women’s PrayersThe prayers of women were woven throughout this Parliament: spoken into themicrophone from the plenary stage, danced in flash mobs with spontaneousjoy, encoded in the footsteps of the silent river of women during theWomen’s Multi-Faith Peace Walk and offered with tobacco at sunrise aroundthe Sacred Fire. I was blessed to offer these two prayers to open and closethe workshop Embodied Service: The Wholeness of Women’s SpiritualLeadership.Opening Prayer:Beloved One, Spirit of the Universe, Mother of All That Is. Thank... Read more
I dreamt… may we walk wing-ed and wild may we sit on the throne’s of our wombs embody the mystery and power of creation may we enter the stream, on horseback and foot, wade like an unbroken chain of stars through the night guiding brave souls who’ve lived in hiding and learned forgetting beneath us great mother lies, legs and arms spread wide across the creek bottom big breasted, long hair flowing we stand among her waters we are here.... Read more
I am stirred by these words in both an invigorating and a disheartening way. I am delighted that there will be a designated event in which women can be authentically themselves, feel supported in that expression and notice what arises individually and collectively from being in this fertile field. I am disheartened that this hasn’t been the experience for women for a very long time, that we have had to either fight for what is our natural place of contribution... Read more
The words “On Feminine Ground” stir in me dreams of a transformed world. On Feminine Ground everyone has freedom to become all we are created to be in the divine image. On Feminine Ground all creation flourishes. For too long our world has been out of balance with the masculine dominating and the feminine subordinated or excluded. We have all suffered from this imbalance. On Feminine Ground there will be a healthy balance that... Read more
Voices of Women of Spirit and Faith
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